Casimiro “Cas” Hernandez, a long-time educator at the Faculty of Engineering and technical consultant of the UST community development office, died on March 26 at 93 years old.
Hernandez, who had pneumonia and Covid-19, died following a heart attack, his former colleague, Asst. Prof. Froilan Alipao, told the Varsitarian.
Hernandez finished his bachelor’s degree in radio and electronics at the Far East Air Transport Incorporated or Feati University-Manila in 1964 and worked as a radio engineer before teaching at the University.
He was a faculty member at the Faculty of Engineering for 20 years. He became chairman of the Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering from 1984 to 1998.
Hernandez helped the Department of Electronics Engineering attain the “Center of Excellence” recognition from the Commission on Higher Education in 2000.
Upon retirement, Hernandez spearheaded the UST Distance Education Program (UST DEP) where he established the radio communication with partner-communities of UST.
UST DEP was one of the Philippines’s first adult literacy programs. It uses two-way radios to deliver learning to the Aetas of Tarlac and Pampanga.
“As a technical consultant, he was dedicated and committed to his tasks….He loved the people of Aeta communities in Bamban, Tarlac. He was not a different person from them. He became their tatay, lolo and a member of Aeta communities and families. He was a living representation of the University in the communities,” Alipao said.
According to Alipao, Hernandez spent his latter years helping the University’s partner communities through two-way radios.
“Lagi niyang sinasabi sa amin na ‘di hadlang ang kakulangan namin ng pormal na edukasyon para kami ay matuto. Naging inspirasyon namin ang kanyang mga aral at ang turing niya sa amin ay kanyang mga anak,” Lucy Guya, one of the benefactors of the UST DEP in Sitio Malasa in Tarlac, told the Varsitarian.
“Siya ay ama, lolo, kaibigan at ‘sir’ ng mga pamayanang katutubo ng Bamban, Tarlac….Kahit araw ng linggo na dapat ay family day nila, di nila pinagkait sa amin na kami ay kanyang mapuntahan,” Guya added.
Hernandez was one of the centennial awardees of the Faculty of Engineering in 2007. He was also named the “Most Outstanding Electronics Engineering Professional” by the Professional Regulation Commission. J.C. Ramos
